At the Duroub Gallery in Garden City, the Summer Collection Exhibition currently on show includes work by 60 artists and covers painting, drawing, graphic art, sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy and even 3D dolls and silverware. The exhibition aims at a dialogue between different generations of artists and encourages art lovers to collect at affordable prices. Among the artists participating in the exhibition are Abdel-Aal Hassan, Mohamed Sabri, Omar Al-Nagdi, Samir Fouad, Shaker Al-Maadawi, Gihan Raaouf and Farouk Wagdi. For his part Abdel-Aal Hassan is an exceptionally gifted artist whose trademark is the painting of bint al balad (the grassroots Egyptian girl), whom he depicts whether in the city as well as the village at various locations in the country. He shows costumes, accessories, hair style and makeup with meticulous detail. “When I used to tour the rural suqs (markets),” Hassan comments, “I would see exactly the same woman depicted by the ancient Egyptian artist in his inscriptions and drawings thousands of years ago carrying a fruit basket over her head while holding a goose in her hands." Hassan set himself apart from other portrait pioneers such as Ahmed Sabri, Sabri Ragheb and Bikar by creating his unique style. For many years his work illustrated the covers of Sabah Al-Kheir and Rose Al-Yousef magazines. He gave solo exhibitions and participated in collective shows in Egypt and abroad, and he created a number of murals such as the ones at the Museum of Palestine. The exhibition runs through 25 September.
